General description
The Governing Instrument of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), in its chapter X, establishes that "the Board of Directors will agree on and adopt environmental and social safeguards of best practices, which will be applied to all programs and projects financed with the Fund's resources."
At its seventh meeting in May 2014, the Board adopted the Performance Standards for Environmental and Social Sustainability of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards as the interim Environmental and Social Safeguards of the GCF. The interim ESS was to be used by the GCF until the GCF-specific ESS was fully developed.
The initial guidance framework for the GCF accreditation process states that, in relation to the development of the GCF ESS, once the GCF has accumulated a history of experience and lessons learned, an in-depth review will take place.
The process is that the GCF must establish a balance without contradictions between the Indigenous Peoples Policy, the Gender Policy and the Environmental and Social Policy, specifically considering the safeguards (ESS) in order to ensure that the climate financing that this organization grants, does not harm Indigenous and local communities or ecosystems.
With the three aforementioned Policies, the GCF ensures standards that include, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner the following: equitable management of environmental and social risks; the importance of fully and effectively involving Indigenous peoples in the design, development and implementation of strategies and activities; and incorporation of the the gender perspective from the beginning of its operations as an essential element of decision-making for the deployment of its resources.
An important aspect to mention—and that should not be overlooked—is that, although it is true that the GCF is responsible for ensuring that these policies are reflected in the concept notes and proposals for financing and action plans, the AE is directly responsible for implementing them in the country level
In this sense, Indigenous Peoples Organizations (IPOs) are interested and wish to accompany the development of the discussions on the in-depth review of the ESS, in order to ensure the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In this document, we intend to develop annotations on the ESS as a contribution to the in-depth review process.